kellja2001

Hmm. That's news to me. Shows how far out of the loop I am! Will buy one and give it a go. Sony sell their own converter for £20 - so given the cost of the system I'm just going to buy it and try it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X-Hydh9G3ow So I (quickly) edited the above - please note it's not in 4k (my iMac can't handle that yet) but does clearly show the quality and how wide-angle the lens is! I haven't cropped anything, and the only effect I've used is a subtle slo-mo on one of the exits. I think I may actually love the AX33. Although I must stress, it is heavy - and probably not appropriate for novice/new camera folk. The remote arrived yesterday, and I can confirm it does work with the AX33 - but it's less useful than I hoped because you have to turn the AX33 on and go through the menus to select "Control via wifi", then close the screen (with the viewfinder open), put the helmet on, then you can click record on the remote when you want. I haven't yet found an option to get the camera to automatically connect to the remote, which is slightly frustrating! That said, I can always use my hypeye (with converter) :-)

So I decided to take a punt... a £1200 kind of punt... I've bought a Sony FDR-AX33 and an FDR-X1000V and a wrist remote. The X1000V hasn't arrived yet, but I combined the AX33 with my old CX105 over the weekend, and have had some impressive results. The setup so far: Primary - AX33 with Tiffen 52mm 0.6 Neutral Density Filter and Digital King DSW Pro 0.7 wide conversion lens. Secondary- CX105 with Liquid 0.43HD Lens. So let's start with the bad. The AX33 (with lens/filter) is pretty heavy by modern standards. I'm hoping having the X1000V as the backup, rather than an old CX105 will offset this a little. The judging system used this weekend didn't support 4k, so I turned it down to normal HD. Right. Now for the good. Good: The 0.7 appears wider than the CX105 with 0.43 - but narrower than I recall my 0.3 being (yay!). The quality is stonkingly good compared to what I'm used to. I'll post some video here when I get a chance (my iMac can't edit 4k yet - but it can edit the HD stuff). I'll also provide an update in a couple of weekends time when I have the wrist remote and X1000V to complete the setup!

Good afternoon! Looking for some opinions really. My current setup has either two Sony CX105s or two Sony CX115s (or a mix of each) - the backup has a .3 lens, the primary has a .43. These are getting a bit long-in-the-tooth now (knackered) and I'm looking to replace with the best on the market! I use a Tonfly 4x Top with Converter Mounts (happy to order a new plate if the proposed mounting is different). I think we can assume money isn't an object - but I would like hypeye (or equivalent) compatibility; something I can change the lens on; preferably something light; something that will fit on top of my 4x; and something that I can buy new! Let me know what your thoughts are! J

When with my team, as the red light comes on, sometimes I'm known to say, in a terrible Jamaican accent: "Feel the rhythmn! Feel the rhyme! Let's open the door, it's skydive time! Cool jumping mon..." I'm such a loser...

Appreciate you've edited this, but: Worth considering the PC pulls the bridle out "upwards", not away towards the BOC like people seem to think. When you throw that mini-parachute belly-to-earth it doesn't sprint 20ft behind you, it goes (pretty much) straight up. This is where the curved pin comes into play. My understanding is the pin is curved to increase the force required to dislodge it if you apply a force to the "open end" of the pin (try to push your pin out with your thumb - it's difficult because the damn thing keeps rotating!). The disadvantage of this, is when your bridle from your PC pulls tight, the pin "sits up", making a "U" shape if you're looking at the jumper side-on. My understanding is that it's the end of this "U" striking the "tightly packed" bridle that causes it to penetrate. If people want, I'm happy to make another educational video trying to express this more clearly?

Chatteris - Twin Otter / Nomad (I thought?) Strathallan - 3x Cessna 206

Gaffer tape is probably a good shout Just found this: http://www.crmojo.com/adobepdf/dbag.pdf Which suggests using additional bungees, one on either side of the d-bag to secure lines right up to the links - also with the added benefit of "guaranteed no twists". Sounds like a very sensible idea for helping with the loose lines. EDIT: To clicky

Thanks for the super-fast reply! This is the vocabulary I've been missing! Thanks! Have done a search, got down to the 2% relevance without really finding anything that helped Have been doing this for the last 8 months now - I'm comfortable with the solution we have, except for the "looseness" of the risers and the tail. The canopy was no-where near the tail on the jump we've done - but it still doesn't feel quite right. Again, way ahead on this one - I've spoken to 4 (admittedly one I simply asked to make a d-bag).

Throwing this one out to the wolves. Deploying the tertiary canopy. The solution we came up with involved an individual (call him the jumpmaster) holding the d-bag (using handles) in the door of the aircraft whilst the jumper exited - similar to a static line but without the hangup risk. Identified cons: 1) The aircraft's tail (possibility of the canopy striking the tail if deployed from door-height)? 2) Risers are already "loose" - potential snag-hazard in the aircraft's door. 3) Jumpmaster drops d-bag or "falls out of plane" (you're going to cutaway anyway, right? :p) How much (if any?) of a problem are these realistically going to be, and what factors could be implemented to mitigate these risks? Really looking for constructive comments here as I understand the number of intentional cutaway jumps undertaken by DZ.com members is significant.

I've just read that e-mail from "Jonny" and one thing that stood out to me was the quote "alot of people who havent tried something properly are often too quick to snub it.." - I think this is very true. Sure, I've been known to slag ours off (particularly that bridle routing :p) - but I've met some people who say "I'd never jump one" seemingly without rationale. On the flip-side, we got ours with a serious discount (thanks Sooze!). Would I have spent €2190 on one? Probably not, as I could get a Javelin for less than that - and for personal kit, I think the Jav is better value for money, just as durable, and better as an all-round package. That said, if you asked Jerome (@ Basik) nicely, he might be able to offer you something ;-)

I wrote that review and stick by what I said. Sure, its got some pros, and some cons. Teaching people how to route the bridle (above the pin) is tricky, because it doesn't have anywhere "obvious" where it should sit - unlike the Jav/Vector etc. As its getting older, it is stretching, and losing a little bit of its bridle protection (below the pin) (simply due to things being a bit looser) - nothing a tighter closing loop can't fix though :-) The major thing we've had is instructors stopping "just qualified" jumpers from using it due to the hooktable cutaway pad (http://www.basik.fr/fr/images/Advance/adv_5_1.jpg)... I'll let you make your own mind up about that... I do have to coerce riggers into packing it (they all seem to hate it), but I think that's due to the sheer force of the spring and slightly weird reserve closing method. The Cordura 1000 is fantastic. Our rig has been seriously abused (it came back from Perris a mucky brown colour, having originally been black). A quick dust-down and its showing no signs of wear. I just remembered I also asked for a spandex BOC Pouch - because another University had a couple of problems with their Cordura one (stiff pulls, leading to an AAD fire (also partially attributable to the AAD being set on Student mode)) - but as I understand it, theirs is now fine. I'm going to add the usual "not a rigger" disclaimer - but if you're ever in the UK, and want to have a fiddle with ours, I'd be happy to show it to you/with our new President's permission, let you jump it ;-)

Why is this embarrassing? Are we talking "Long time no see" as in, more than 6 months, or "Long time no see" as in 4 months? If its the former, OK, but the latter, I wish I'd video'd it now, but I unpacked a main following the winter shutdown (early Dec. to early Feb here) and it was a solid block. We even threw it around, and it didn't "uncube" itself... sure, 120mph winds should fix that, but I wasn't exactly keen, given as I had to pry it open with my fingers. J

This happened to one of my current canopies. The previous owner left it in the container and d-bag over several summers. He had black bungees on at the time. They started to lose their coloring, and left a lovely black ring around the lines every foot or so. When I first saw it, I genuinely thought the lines were rotting, as do a lot of people. It doesn't look good, but I've had it checked out by a rigger etc. and apparently they're still perfectly fine! 50 jumps later on the canopy and they ain't broke yet!

The most reliable AAD is probably yourself. You constantly monitor altitude, speed and circumstance. In response to the above factors, you choose to pull your main, or your reserve, depending on which you perceive to give you the highest chance of survival. In the event of a main malfunction, you choose to first cutaway your main, then deploy your reserve. Your firing altitudes can be altered in seconds on the ground, or in mid-air, and there is no necessity to turn you on at the beginning of the day. Maintenance is minimal, and you have a lifetime guarantee. Sure, sometimes you fail, but more often than not, that's either due to a hard impact, or user error. I challenge anyone to develop an electronic device that reliable. But even you aren't foolproof.